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Democratic Senators Press Intel Officials About Strait of Hormuz Planning; Markwayne Mullin Testifies to Become Next DHS Secretary; GOP Chair Questions Mullin's Temperament for DHS Chief; Sen. Rand Paul Says He's a No Vote on Mullin for DHS Secretary. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired March 18, 2026 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:00]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': -- He has been slowly but surely sort of honing in on this notion of a nuclear threat, probably because that is something that he understands resonates with the American people more than anything else. And yet, his Director of National Intelligence was there saying that the intelligence community, their assessment still is that the nuclear threat was eliminated by the U.S. military action and it has not returned.

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Right. Right. And recall to that when, you know, Tulsi Gabbard would say that the president is the only one who can kind of declare what is an Imminent threat and trying to sidestep that question or sidestep that -- yeah, you know, sidestep with her answer to that question. I mean this isn't a line that is unique to her.

The White House press secretary, when we were asked actually about a top counterterrorism official's resignation letter yesterday, when he claimed that Iran did not pose an imminent threat, Karoline Leavitt's statement says the commander-in-chief is the one who is empowered. He is the one who determines what is or what not -- what does or does not constitute threat because he was the one that was empowered by the voters to do so. So, you see that is how the administration is walking that line.

And I also want to talk just about one of the other points at the hearing that caught my eye, is how Senators were repeatedly pressing the intel officials about what exactly the president was briefed on before he made the decision to strike because I know there's been a lot of discussion in recent days. What did he know about Iran's plans for the Strait of Hormuz? What did he know about Iran's plans to attack Gulf nations, which the latter is interesting to me because he has actually expressed surprise --

BASH: Yeah.

KIM: -- in his public comments over the last several days that they did not expect Iran to retaliate in the way that it had and you again saw intel officials kind of dance around that. I think Tulsi Gabbard had said it was a long-standing assessment in the intelligence community that the Iran would try to close that really vital strait. But she didn't say directly whether that had been communicated to the president.

BASH: Yeah, and you know, the question about the Strait of Hormuz was not answered. I mean, we'll see if they can get anything -- actually, maybe we won't see but maybe we'll find out if they get anything more on that in the classified setting.

I just wanted because our viewers once "Inside Politics" started saw not one but two Democratic Senators hold up this fundraising email that the president that our K-File has reported on that the president's political team sent out with a picture of him at the dignified -- one of the dignified transfers of six service members who were killed in action during this war. And in it, the promise if you give money to the president's political organization is that, and I have it right here, that you will be able to get The private national security briefings unfiltered that he gets.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and both of those Senators were deeply disturbed by the fundraising email and that's why they were bringing it up. They didn't get many responses from those that were testifying on that front, but certainly, an alarming email that they were raising in this public setting about this war.

I will say though, just as much as lawmakers are looking for answers, so is the American public and they're indicating that because as this goes on, there are domestic Implications that they are feeling on their wallet. And so, I think for anyone and I think that's what Senator Warner was trying to get across as well, for anyone tuning in to try to understand why the state of affairs is as it is and why the administration opted to do this, they're probably walking away with not that many answers as to what was the impetus.

BASH: Yeah, no question, especially the last part of what Mark Warner, who's the top Democrat on this committee said, which is that he's disappointed that they couldn't even confirm that China and Russia are providing intelligence to Iran to help them in their war. Meanwhile, the United States has lifted some sanctions on Russia.

So Russia is benefiting economically and probably with regard to national security from this war. Okay, we're going to sneak in a quick break. We're going to bring you the latest on that other crucial hearing. Senator Markwayne Mullin is laying out his plans to head the Department of Homeland Security, trying to get the votes for confirmation. A lot of really explosive back-and-forth there and we will show you what happened when we take -- when we come back from break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:09]

BASH: You are looking at live pictures of Republican Senator, Markwayne Mullin testifying on Capitol Hill. His hearing is about whether or not he will be the next Homeland Security Secretary, and it has been pretty tense at times. And it started with a very stinging rebuke from his fellow Republican Senator, Rand Paul, who's the Chairman of this committee.

Paul was recounting a 2017 attack. He was attacked by his neighbor, and Senator Paul was left with broken ribs and had part of his lung removed. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R-KY) HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIR: You told the media that I was a freaking snake and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted. I was shocked they would justify and celebrate this violent assault that caused me so much pain and my family so much pain.

[12:40:00]

I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force. You might argue you were mad and upset about being confronted by your constituents.

But Senator Mullin, your constituents are justifiably upset with you. By now, most of America knows that the Somali Welfare Fraud in Minnesota stole over $9 billion. But instead of defending your vote, you took to continue -- the vote to continue these refugee welfare programs, you chose to lash out at me.

You went on to brag that you'd already told me to my face that you completely understood and approved of the assault. Well, that's a lie. You got a chance today. You can either continue to lie or you can correct the record. You have never had the courage to look me in the eye and tell me that the assault was justified.

So today, you'll have your chance. Today, I'll give you that chance to clear the record. Tell it to my face. If that's what you believe, tell it to me today. Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken and a damaged lung. Tell me to my face why you think I deserved it.

And while you're at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for ICE and Border Patrol agents.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN, (R-OK) DHS SECRETARY NOMINEE: I said I could understand because of the behavior you were having that I could understand why your neighbor -- why the neighbor did what he did. As far as my terms and snake in the grass, sir, I work around this room to try to fix problems.

I've worked with many people in this room. Seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us. I did address those remarks. I did explain your gimmicks by the amendment you put forth. And as far as me saying that I invoke violence, I don't. I don't think anybody should be hit by surprise. I don't like that. But if I do have something to say, everybody in

this room knows I'll come straight to you. I'll say it publicly and I'll say it privately, but I'll never say it behind your back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Back with my panel. Meanwhile, on the real housewives of the U.S. Senate --

(LAUGH)

BASH: -- this is, you know, I mean, it's actually -- it is a serious issue that Rand Paul is trying to get at, which he said is, you know, character and that questioning whether he has anger issues. It was also noteworthy that Senator Mullin brought with him his now friend, Sean O'Brien, the Head of the Teamsters.

(LAUGH)

BASH: He sat right within camera shot because one of the reasons why people first learned of Senator Mullin is when he almost got into a fistfight with Mr. O'Brien, when Senator Mullin was asking questions at a hearing. They smoked the peace fight metaphorically. They are now friends, and so there's no question in my mind that that's why he had O'Brien back there because he knew what was coming from Rand Paul.

KIM: He knew what was coming, and we knew that we were kind of awaiting something fairly remarkable from Senator Paul because he had been asked about this. You know, this new DHS nominee that's going to go before your committee, he has said these things about you in the past. And Rand Paul basically said, just kind of watch the hearing and see what -- see what I'm going to do.

But, so much of this turns on the personal. Rand Paul certainly is never going to forget what the Senator said about him. The fact that the Senator refused to apologize for his remark, said he basically stood by them.

And Rand Paul makes a point that he is moving this nomination really fast. I mean, he was put forward by the president. Just, you know, I've lost kind of sense of time, but not --

BASH: Not even two weeks ago.

KIM: -- you know, about two weeks ago, and he's already having his hearing. But he did also float during the hearing that he could delay or postpone the committee vote for him, which would delay a key Trump priority further.

BASH: OK. Let's turn to some of the really important issues that will be before Senator Mullin if he becomes Secretary Mullin. And just broadly speaking, what was extremely noteworthy and clearly intentional was him trying to separate himself from Kristi Noem and how she has done business.

Let's listen to an exchange from -- with Gary Peters, a Senator from Michigan, and Markwayne Mullin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. GARY PETERS, (R-MI) RANKING MEMBER, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: You called Alex Pretti, quote, "a deranged individual that came in to cause max damage." Could we expect those kinds of quick responses if you are confirmed as secretary? Would you be basically -- well, you did, you responded to Secretary Noem. Are we going to just expect that same behavior all over again?

MULLIN: No, Senator. I have a deep amount of respect for you. We've had our differences, but I do respect you. I think I said this privately when we had a conversation. Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn't have said that and as secretary I wouldn't.

The investigation is ongoing and there is, like I said, there are sometimes I'm going to make a mistake and I'll own it. That one, I went out there too fast.

[12:45:00]

I was responding immediately without the facts. That's my fault. That won't happen as secretary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: That exchange is notable for various reasons, one of them being that that began the downfall of Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, when she came out and called those two U.S. citizens domestic terrorists. We are here today with this confirmation hearing because the secretary's tenure as lead of the Department of Homeland Security had become untenable with all the controversies.

So coming into this hearing, the Senator had to distinguish himself as to how he was going to manage the department differently than his would-be predecessor, not only for the lawmakers, but also for Homeland Security officials who have been watching this just as closely. So it wasn't just that he was going to own up to mistakes, which is what followed after that exchange with Senator Peters.

He's also noting where he'd be different in other areas, like administrative warrants, where the administration had interpreted it to mean in a memo that they could go on to private property, something usually restricted to judicial warrants. Quotas, he talks about arrest quotas. He was asked about that. The White House imposed those, the 3,000 daily immigration arrests.

They haven't reached those numbers. But he says that he's going to follow the president's policies. This is, of course, something that Miller came down with. Contracts, the secretary has a $100,000 threshold that she has to approve all of the contracts that are above that. He said that he would do away with that.

He also says that he's going to have an open line of communication with lawmakers. Republicans and Democrats have been continuously frustrated by the stonewalling from the Department of Homeland Security. So at each turn, be it a Republican questioning him or a Democrat questioning him, he was repeatedly sort of distinguishing how he'd run the department, different from the secretary.

But I do want to note, Dana, that does not mean that the agenda is any less aggressive.

BASH: Right.

ALVAREZ: He is still saying and stating everything that the president would want to hear, that he's going to be aggressive when it comes to immigration enforcement. But it always comes down to the how you do that. And it was the how that just became untenable for the secretary and for the White House.

BASH: Yeah. And that's what I was just going to mention to you. You just talked about several really important policy areas. But then, there's also the approach and the fact that Senator Mullin said in various ways, he doesn't want to be the story. You're not going to hear from him very much. He's not going to, basically, be the same out front kind of --

ALVAREZ: Splashy approach to the secretary. Yeah.

BASH: Exactly, which was obviously intentional. Senator Mullin, you know, obviously is familiar with his colleagues in the Senate, but he also speaks fluent Trump.

HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: No, look, I mean, there are going to be huge stylistic changes, whether or not on the substance, I agree with you. Right. I mean, it's basically directionally going to be the same.

I think it's an open question at this moment whether or not he's going to be confirmed.

ALVAREZ: Yeah.

NICHOLS: I mean, the Chairman, Rand Paul, that was an intense exchange there. I mean, I think a lot of jaws were dropping when we saw this, the opening, his response.

I mean, Paul clearly goes after him. So Senator Markwayne Mullin doesn't de-escalate. In a way, kind of escalates, then Paul goes back and moves the remark back and forth.

And now, Senator Rand Paul is saying that he might not actually move forward on this unless he gets more information on these international trips. And for those of us that have been reporting this story out, Senator Mullin has been kind of strongly hinting that he's done some classified foreign travel in war zones. And today, he finally came out.

He finally admitted that he's done classified trips -- one classified trip, hinted at some other trips, said mission related work, unclear what that means. And he has pledged to sort of work with the committee to clear it up.

But Paul wants answers. Senator Peters wants answers. If he does not divulge more information about these trips, his nomination is in doubt.

BASH: Yeah.

ALVAREZ: Also, just a reminder, the Department of Homeland Security is used to turnover. They dealt with it under the first Trump administration. I covered five secretaries during that time in the department. The majority of those were in acting capacity.

BASH: Yeah.

ALVAREZ: So it is very possible that they go into that, that that could lead to this if he does not get confirmed. However, the White House is not going to want that because that's where litigation starts to really get under their skin, because that's what's used against them in policies.

BASH: Yeah, I mean, it's not to get too, like, Senate procedure, you know, into dork land. But there is --

NICHOLS: It's "Inside Politics."

(LAUGH)

BASH: There is a way to get around Rand Paul if they need to, if the Senate majority leader really wants to do it. And I would have a hard time believing that, like Senator Fetterman would vote no. So perhaps he would get through. But we'll see. There's one other really important topic that I want to get to.

And that is Senator Elissa Slotkin pushed Mullin about the question of what he believes the role of Homeland Security law enforcement officers, those who would report all the way up the chain to him, would be in this coming or any election. Let's watch that.

[12:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN, (R-MI) HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: If you are Secretary of Homeland Security, do you feel you have the authority to put uniformed officers at polling locations in 2026?

MULLIN: Ma'am, we said this in your office, the only reason why my officers would be there, if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation. And I said we would be --

(CROSSTALK)

SLOTKIN: So, even though we didn't need it during World War II, we didn't need it during Vietnam or the War on Terror, we never had to put uniformed military there. Now, you feel that there's going to be a reason that there's going to be an armed threat to the United States that you need to potentially be there?

MULLIN: No, ma'am. I said, I can't sit there and guarantee hypothetically what threat would be or not.

SLOTKIN: If we ever get to the point where you are being asked to put armed ICE officers at polling locations, we have lost the plot as a country. We have fundamentally lost it. And until I hear someone tell me that this man, President Trump, will actually allow us to have a free and fair election, there is zero trust here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: This is a really big deal, because this isn't just Democrats sort of doing this for political reasons. And obviously, there are politics at play here. But I'm sure you've all talked to people who are genuinely concerned about how the elections could play out if the president wants to use the kind of tools that Senator Slotkin just referred to.

KIM: Right. And I believe before that exchange, she asked him basically, first of all, who won the 2020 election. And the Senator said it was Joe Biden who was ultimately sworn in, in January 2021. And again, it's just facing that question of the election lie from President Trump that so many of his nominees had to face.

But yes, that is so crucial, because we know, first of all, how fixated the president is with the midterms right now, because it will determine the fate of the last two years of his presidency. This is why he has really focused on finding any which way to make sure that Republicans at least keep -- or Republicans don't lose the House.

Because if you think about it, you have impeachments, you have investigative powers, you have the thwarting of the policy agenda that the president has, along with so many other things that a Democratic- led House can do. So that's why he's focused on mid-century redistricting. He's focused on the SAVE America Act that has now become his top legislative priority.

And this is a fear that you're hearing from a lot of local election administrators, local secretaries of state, that there could be this sort of intimidation tactic. Elissa Slotkin is clearly trying to get the Senator on the record as to what he would do or not do as DHS secretary. But then, she points out there are other times in U.S. history where there were not these, you know, where there were not these law enforcements that were needed in similar times of war or, you know, unrest at home.

BASH: All right, everybody stand by. We're going to sneak in another quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:06]

BASH: And we are still following Breaking News on Capitol Hill. CNN's Lauren Fox just spoke to the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rand Paul, about whether he will move forward with Senator Markwayne Mullin's confirmation to be Homeland Security Secretary. What did he say, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dana, sorry, I was having some technical difficulties hearing you, but the reality is that coming out of this hearing just now, Rand Paul said that he is not going to vote for Mullin to be the Secretary of Homeland Security, and that is significant because he is the Chairman of this committee.

He also, obviously, is a Republican, a fellow Republican, who said that he cannot vote for someone who he believes has anger issues, who he has a long history with here in the United States Senate, and who he has personally offended, made comments to voters back in Oklahoma just a couple of weeks ago, that he understood why Rand Paul's neighbor back in 2017 attacked the Kentucky Senator at the time when this took place.

Rand Paul said he didn't even talk about the scope of his injuries. He did talk about them in this hearing today. He talked about them again with reporters, saying that he could barely walk for months, that he was in excruciating pain, that to sit up in bed, he actually had to be connected to a rope at the end of his bed.

That just shows you just how frustrated Rand Paul is right now, and it is critical in terms of the math here, because now, if Rand Paul is a no, that means a Democrat on this committee has to be a yes to continue this confirmation. Now, John Fetterman told us earlier that he is open to voting for Mullin. You heard in his back-and-forth with Mullin that he has a good relationship with the Senator.

He also argued, basically, that Rand Paul needed to have a shorter memory when it came to the back-and-forth there. So, it's really interesting dynamics here in this committee room. This is just wrapped up, but obviously, we're going to be watching the votes as they play out.

BASH: Lauren, I hope you can hear me now. Just one follow-up to that really interesting exchange that you had with Senator Paul, him saying that he would vote no. Because he's the Chairman of the committee, did he indicate whether he would not only vote no, but try to block or delay the committee actually voting on this nomination?

No, she doesn't hear me. OK. Lauren, thank you so much. Appreciate that. Live television.

(LAUGH)

BASH: We appreciate her getting that information on. So, we don't know the answer to that, whether he would try to block it.

But what we do know is that --

NICHOLS: Yeah.

BASH: -- as you said, it's not going to be easy. NICHOLS: It's not a good sign for Senator Mullin, immediately after the hearing, the Republican chair. I mean, look, first of all, so much for Senate courtesy, right? The other Senators that have gone up to be nominated and be confirmed, they've sailed through.

Marco Rubio didn't get a single no vote. Like, normally, a Senate -- I suppose I can use this metaphor in March -- normally, it's a layup when you're a Senator to go ahead and be confirmed. He has a very difficult path forward, and it's going to be interesting to see whether or not the White House does any cleanup and whether or not Mullin is at all contrite or tries to clean it up himself. I didn't hear a lot of contrition.

BASH: Well, that's the issue. Those of us who have covered Senator Paul for a long time, really, ever since he came into the Senate, I know that he does have a long memory. And what he was clearly looking for in that moment was an apology. And he didn't get one.

ALVAREZ: He didn't get one. And as we wait to see how these votes unfold, as Lauren was saying, Secretary Noem is out the door on March 31st. So, after that, presumably, they will have to install someone in acting if he is not confirmed before then. Again, this is a department of 260,000 employees, all of which are now waiting in limbo to see who leads them.

NICHOLS: And whether or not they're ever going to get paid, right? Or is there another --

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: There's the other big issue with this shutdown here. And these are --

BASH: Which almost every Republican who had a chance to question Mullin made a point of reminding people that TSA workers and other members of the DHS are not getting paid right now.

MIN KIM: Right. And --